Road to Perdition, 2002, Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law
Road to Perdition is a 2002 period drama film directed by Sam Mendes. The film is based on the graphic novel Road to Perdition, written by Max Allan Collins and illustrated by Richard Piers Rayner, and takes place during the Great Depression. The film stars Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, and Tyler Hoechlin. Hanks stars as an enforcer who is forced to flee with his son from the crime syndicate for whom he had worked, and to ensure that his son does not become like him.
Filming took place in Chicago, in the Pullman neighborhood. Director Sam Mendes, having recently finished 1999's acclaimed American Beauty, pursued a film that had minimal dialogue and conveyed emotion in the imagery. A "cold look" was created for the locations in Road to Perdition to emphasize the characters' emotional states. Cinematographer Conrad L. Hall took advantage of the lighting and the environment to create symbolism for the film, for which he won several awards. Road to Perdition explored the themes of violence's consequences and the relationship between father and son.
Road to Perdition was released on July 12, 2002, and received highly positive reviews. Road to Perdition's cinematography, setting, and the performances of Paul Newman and Tom Hanks were well-received, though the film was criticized for not creating a strong emotional attachment to its audience.
Road to Perdition was released on DVD in February 25, 2003 in both full screen and anamorphic widescreen versions. The DVD's features included an audio commentary, deleted scenes, a HBO "Making of" documentary and a photo gallery. Work on the DVD began on the same day that the film's production began, and a collaborative effort among the director, the studio, and the DVD production crew shaped the DVD's content. Due to a limit of space on the DVD, the film's deleted scenes were chosen over a DTS soundtrack. Instead, the DVD included a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. A special edition DVD containing both DTS and Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks was also released, excluding the "Making of" documentary to fit both soundtracks.
The author of the graphic novel Road to Perdition, Max Allan Collins, was hired to write the novelization for the film adaptation. Collins initially turned in a draft that contained 90,000 words, but the licensing at DreamWorks required the author to use only the dialogue from the film and no additional dialogue. Collins reluctantly edited the novelization down to 50,000 words and later said he regretted taking on the task.Wikipedia
